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Gegard Mousasi looked to be on his way to a submission loss to DREAMs self styled gator, Ronaldo Jacare, midway through the first round of their middleweight GP final match. Jacare had been successful keeping the fight on the ground, though Mousasi was able to fend off a submission. Jacare then made a fateful decision, standing up and looking for a big punch. He never knew what hit him and by the time he regained consciousness Mousasi had his hand raised as the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix champion.

Though it didnt receive anywhere near the media attention of Fedor Emelianenkos rejection of the UFC for Strikeforce, MMA experts were impressed with the announcement that the San Jose, California based promotion had signed Brazilian middleweight Ronaldo Jacare Souza to a multifight contract. He is expected to make his Strikeforce debut on the same October event as Emelianenko, which will be broadcast on the Showtime premium cable network.

Hugh Hefner is really starting to show his age, but there he was at cageside wearing his trademark pajamas and bathrobe. Had he bothered to look up every now and then he would have enjoyed a spirited night of fighting that may have been short on significant matchups but wasnt lacking for entertainment value.

Ever since he burst onto the MMA scene Joe Lauzon has been working to earn respect. Hes lost only once since then–to top contender Kenny Florian in a bout that earned fight of the night honors–but for some reason hes had trouble being taken seriously as a top contender in the UFCs lightweight division. In the main event at the UFC Ultimate Fight Night in Tampa, Lauzon withstood a game challenge from late replacement Jeremy Stephens to earn a 2nd round submission victory.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva had lost a lot of his luster coming into Saturday nights UFC 101 matchup with former light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. He was undefeated in his previous nine UFC contests, but his last three victories had been far from impressive. Even Dana White criticized his recent effort and finally conceded that St. Pierre might, indeed, be the best all around fighter in the game.

From poor ticket sales to a downright hostile German media, UFC 99 was one headache after another for Dana White and company. That was all forgotten thanks to an entertaining fight card highlighted by a main event between Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva. Franklin would ultimately win the unanimous decision victory, but the fight itself far exceeded the expectations of most fans.

Reigning lightweight champ BJ Penn entered his main event battle against welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre looking to become the first man in UFC history to simultaneously hold titles in two weight classes. GSP never gave him the chance to make history, as he stopped Penn after four increasingly dominant rounds to retain his belt with a TKO victory.

After a controversial no contest in their first matchup, there was no doubt as to the winner of the DREAM 2 rematch between Shina Aoki and JZ Calvan. Aoki controlled the fight from the opening bell and used a wide repertoire of submission attempts to keep his opponent off balance and on the defensive.

Heres a word of advice to future opponents of Bobby Lashley”dont make fun of his background in professional wrestling. Mike Cook found that out the hard way in the co-main event of the Maximum Fighting Championships MFC 21: Hard Knocks event. After spending the run up to fight week making fun of Lashleys tenure in the WWE, Cook lasted a mere :24 seconds before being choked unconscious via a guillotine choke.

The UFC is of borderline relevance in Japan. This isnt to disparage the UFC, which has done a great job growing MMA in North America and parts of Europe. Its an effort to put Dana Whites claims of Zuffas inevitable worldwide dominance into perspective. Without traction in the #2 fightsport market in the world, UFC’s hopes for ‘world domination’ are doomed to failure.